"newsroom" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining us. we begin this morning with breaking news. a sizzling new report on the u.s. economy out. america's gdp, the gross domestic product grew at a rate of 4.1%, that is the fastest rate in two years. our chief business correspondent christine romans is here to tell us what it means. good morning. >> good morning, carol. this is stronger than the government first predicted and stronger than many economists thought, that means in july, august and september you had the strongest economic growth in more than two years, 4.1%. we have been muggling along, carol, at about 2% economic growth which is nothing to write home about, for some time now. 4% growth rate, 4.1% growth rate is something that shows an

improvement in the economy, but did it last until the fourth quarter, already economists saying maybe some of this could be taken back in the fourth quarter because this strengthens the economy in part because of a retailer stocking their shelves getting ready for the holiday season. we have to see how much that product really moves. that is the trend. it's important here. you see how the last year we have done better. you have seen the economy starting to gather momentum. it's exactly what the fed is making the fed more comfortable about taking its foot off the gas in terms of helping the economy, taper light as we've been talking about it. again, this is an economic number that is again confirmation that the economy is healing, carol. >> a bit of good news this morning, thanks, christine romans. millions of target customers are waking up to find an e-mail from the store, in their inbox. the nation's second largest retailer in full damage control mode after one of the largest breaches in retail history. as many as 40 million credit and

debit accounts may have been compromised. it started just before thanksgiving and ended on sunday. now target is reaching out to customers via e-mail. the message which is also posted on the company's website reads in part we began investigating the incident as soon as we learned of it. we determined the information involved in this incident included customer name, credit or debit card number and the card's expiration date and cvv, the shorthand can number on the back of your card said to give protection. >> $2,309.51 they tried to get out of the account. >> you think you have money in your account and then you have nothing. you have beyond nothing because i went shopping at target. >> unfederal laws, consumers who use credit cards have more protection than those who use

debit cards because you get cash out of the credit card accounts. check your statements. just hours from now the holiday travel season kicks into gear. for millions of americans those plans may grind to a halt just in time for the start of winter a sprawling storm is plowing across much of the country, painting scenes that are spectacular and a little scary. >> oh my gosh! >> yes. wicked combination of high winds, freezing rain and heavy snow knocked out power across much of salt lake city and now indra petersons is in the cnn severe weather center. okay, hit us. >> does this sound familiar, carol, like groundhog day from thanksgiving? yes, i am not making friends here once again, going to a holiday travel weekend and seeing a series of storms and a lot of variety, too, like you mentioned talking about freezing rain, ice and the threat for tornadoes and record-breaking

heat, we'll talk about that coming up, feels like here we go again. as holiday travelers bombard the airports and roadways this weekend, a wicked weather system could derail travel plans with snow, freezing rain and severe thunderstorms across the country. according to aaa, the wide ranging storm potentially threatening the travel plans of 94 million americans. >> do you want to go on the airplane? >> no. >> reporter: from the south to the midwest, the risk of severe thunderstorms include damaging winds and isolated tornadoes. up north, freezing rain will be the problem from chicago to wichita. holiday commuters will have to watch for icing on bridges and overpasses. snow already caused issues for air travelers this holiday season. in wisconsin this week a plane slid off the snow-slicked runways. >> we didn't know what was happening and they said that the airport was shut down. >> reporter: further east, up to ten inches of rain could dampen holiday travel plans, and once millions finally arrive to a

destination, who will have a white christmas? right now it's looking like colorado and parts of the great lakes. so here we go. look at several storms. here is the first one, producing icy conditions, from michigan back down through missouri but not the big system is dissipating, the rain affecting the northeast but again it is the system behind it. we keep really talking about it. notice the low moves into the southeast, it's warm, tons of moisture and fuels the moisture from the ohio valley back down to the mississippi valley and the back icing conditions. farther north it is colder, the back side fueling in heavy snow around the great lakes. it doesn't end there, we have the icing threat through upstate new york, new hampshire, vermont, maine, over half an inch that can take down power lines. huge ice storm possibly for sunday morning. it does not end there, into the southeast the same system showed you the moisture in the southeast the record-breaking temperatures tonight already looks like from little rock down

through waco a threat for severe weather, thunderstorms, even isolated tornadoes, even a moderate risk in through tomorrow, this is dangerous stuff memphis through monroe the threat for severe weather and in the east, yes, record-wreaking heat. that's not the big story. lot going on but for many warm and showery. >> people will leave early today, the safest time for most of the country? >> it depends on where you are. we're talking about icing conditions in many prayses so talking about ice out there, places like madison you already have problems as we speak. >> all right, indra petersons, thanks so much. fears of a tuberculosis outbreak in california. 1,800 high school students and staff will be tested for tb after 45 students at indio high school in palm dellsert tested positive for possible exposure. only one student is confirmed with an active case of tuberculosis.

the school is requiring the test out of an abundance of caution. the risk of transmission appears to be moderately low but some parents are upset it wasn't handled sooner. >> i'm shocked it wasn't addressed earlier and i felt like, i feel like if it was addressed earlier it wouldn't be this big of a problem. >> casey wian is live outside indio high school with more. good morning. >> reporter: it is scary for a lot of parents and students and staff members here at indio high school. let's talk about how this started because parents are raising concerns about the timetable. few weeks back one student came down with tuberculosis. school officials decided to test everyone that that student was in class with and everyone that that student was known to have come in contact with. that was 131 other students. of that 131, 45 students were tested positive for exposure to tb. doesn't mean they have the disease, it means what health officials say is they have possible or likely latent tb which means they could develop

it about a 10% chance they could develop it at some point in their lifetime. all of those students will be treated with antibiotics. five students have been sent for further tests, because chest x-rays showed that there was some abnormalities that may or may not be related to tb. they still don't know. so out of an abundance of caution, school officials say they're testing all 1,800 people at this school. students and staff alike. we spoke with the principal of the school and the county health director. here's what they had to say. >> i also am a parent. i have a senior girl and a freshman boy. i as a parent am concerned. >> it can spread to people in unpredictable fashion and even though tuberculosis is not nearly as serious as it used to be it is still a serious disease and can have significant health consequences. >> reporter: if the tuberculosis scare is not bad enough today is the last day of school before

winter break. everyone who has tested today has to come back on monday to get the results of their tests, so they won't be allowed back to school after the winter break until they're cleared, carol. >> casey wian reporting live from indio, kaleic iccalifornia morning. a jury has found two personal assistants to nigella lawson not guilty. the defense team argued that lawson's admission she used cocaine tarnished her credibility as a witness. the assistants who are sisters are accused of defrauding the tv chef and her ex-husband out of more than $1 million. cnn's erin mclaughlin is live in london to tell us more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ca l carol. it took the jury nine hours. neither sister in court to hear it due to poor health. following the hearing the defense attorney reading a statement on their behalf saying "this has been a long, hard

fight played out in the gaze of the world's media elisabetta and francesca would like to thank friends and relatives for their love and support and members of the public who expressed their best wishes." the prosecutors alleged the sisters fraudulently funded a lavish million-dollar lifestyle using company credit cards. they had to prove not only what they did was dishonest but they thousand it was dishonest. they argued these transactions took place over a time period of four years and nigella lawson implicit or explicitly authorized the transactions in order to hide her drug abuse, something that lawson vehemently denied in court, they also argued at no point did the sisters try to hide these transactions and they argued that they were the casualty of the very public breakdown of the marriage of the celebrity chef and her former husband, charles

saatchi. clearly the jury listening to the defense and it was enough to create reasonable doubt in this case, carol. >> erin mclaughlin, surprising verdict i must say, erin mclaughlin reporting live from london. still to come, saying no to sea world, young students joining the outcry sparked by the cnn documentary "blackfish" and the theme park taking a new approach to this mounting controversy. stick with innovation.

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it's donut friday at the office. aso every friday morning they psend me out to get the goods. but what they don't know is that i'm using my citi thankyou card at the coffee shop, so i get 2 times the points. and those points add up fast. so, sure, make me the grunt. 'cause i'll be using those points to help me get to a beach in miami. and allllllll the big shots will be stuck here at the cube farm. the citi thankyou preferred card. now earn 2x the points on dining out and entertainment, with no annual fee.to apply, go to citi.com/thankyoucards it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away.

we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. cisco. tomorrow starts here. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. checking our top stories at 15 minutes past the hour, protests of the treatment of an indian diplomat are hitting

close to home. an afternoon protest is planned today outside the indian consulate in new york city. national domestic workers alliance wants to call attention to the diplomat's housekeeper who was supposedly overworked and underpaid. a peaceful vigil turns ugly in durham, north carolina, the crowd gathered to remember a teenager who died last month in police custody, police say the 17-year-old shot himself while in the back of a squad car. last night, riot police say they fired tear gas only after protesters started pelting them with rocks and bottles. the cigarettes are fake but the health concerns are real. new york is moving to add ecigarettes to its lais of banned vices, banned from bars and restaurants like tobacco-filled cigarettes. mayor bloomberg is expected to sign the measure which would go into effect early next year. the handshake that grabbed everyone's attention at nelson mandela's memorial has a new

supporter. earlier this month president obama and cuban president raul castro shook hands in south africa. in his first comment since mandela's death long time cuban president fidel castro is congratulating his brother for his "brilliant prrmance" in greeting obama with firmness and dignity. the white house downplayed the impromptu handshake. just three days left for americans to sign up for obamacare and be guaranteed coverage by january 1st. for those americans who have seen their insurance canceled because of the new law, there may be more time thanks to a new 11th hour option. chief national correspondent john dipping is in washingtjohn in washington. good morning. >> some love this, some don't. obamacare is in the eye of the beholder. this is a big controversy because the president had to acknowledge he had broken a

pledge, if. you like your doctor you can keep that doctor, if you like your plan, you can keep that plan and millions of americans were affected by that. the administration says the real number is about 500,000 people who had their plans canceled, who have not yet signed up for new plans and what the administration is saying as an option if you can't find something out there in your state exchange or the federal exchange, you can sign up for the catastrophic health care option under obama care. it's a more bare bones stripped down plan but gives you an option to get in there and democrats, including senators up for re-election carol who have been feeling the heat, it gives those people an option to get their coverage, but republican critics in the insurance industry are saying the president is changing the plan, lowering his standards moving the goal post and make the argument it will disrupt the marketplace and the republicans say it proves obama care is a failure. more changes to the plan and more debate whether they'll work. >> it seems unfair. say i lost my insurance and i signed up under the exchange and i pay a certain premium and this

new rule goes into effect i can apply for this ultracheap catastrophic coverage. do i get to switch? >> that's a good question. if you sign up now and find something else later can you switch? this is for people worried about the january 1st deadline or worry about a lapse in corrage. that is part of the continued pressure on the administration to make sure people have more options. the house passed a plan but the president won't accept it that would have given them the option to keep their exact plan. we'll see as this goes forward and you have some new state numbers out that have shown some progress in enrollment so there's encouraging news at the state level. you have a little bit of confusion here and this change that again some people say is great, other people say is proof that the program is flawed. this debate we'll carry into the new year from a policy perspective and the politics. >> without a doubt. john king, many thanks so you. still to come in "the newsroom," politicians putting smartphone makers and carriers on notice, demanding a kill switch to make sure something like this doesn't happen again.

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all right, a bit of news just in to cnn, the senate majority leader harry reid was taken to the hospital this morning, we believe it's nothing serious, in fact his office sent us a statement he wasn't feeling well and just as precaution they took him to the hospital. the doctors did some tests, apparently senator reid is feel better but he's remaining in the hospital just for now, he's under observation. there are any more developments

on the story we'll pass it along to you. lawmakers in california have an idea that could wipe out cell phones fast, it's a big problem. i was a victim myself, some punk kid ran up behind me while i was talking on my cell phone and ripped it out of my hand with a chunk of my hair. i was lucky because he didn't have a gun, like this guy did on a seattle bus. this guy used a gun to steal people's smartphones until the crowd turned on him and beat him up. officials in california are proposing a new law that could end this kind of crime. they want to require smartphone manufacturers to install a kill switch that would make it impossible to use stolen or lost devices. the idea is if thieves can't use your phone, there's no point in stealing it. simple, and it's simple and beautiful, right? joining me from new york is brett larson host of "tech bytes. "welcome. >> thanks for having me. >> this sounds like a fantastic

idea. sume cell phone manufacturers are jumping on board with joy. >> wouldn't you think they would all be on the band wagon for stopping cell phone theft? surprisingly they're not. what happened to you is a horrible example of what is happening in a lot of major cities called apple picking, they literally run up behind you or come up from in front of you with a gun or a weapon and steal your phone and it's terrible, and the cell phone companies, there's been talk about let's do something about this, let's make these phones. they have a serial number unique to every individual phone maybe them so they don't work anymore once they're stole. now we're seeing this legislation out of california which may push this process along of instilling this kill switch. >> what is the kill switch, is it like an app? could i install it on my phone? >> it would be something that the device manufacturer would actually put into the phone, it would be a software, not a physical switch but a software that runs that would effectively listen for or take in a signal

from either the cell phone carrier or from law enforcement officials, once you say my phone is stolen, they send out the signal to the smartphone, the signal tells the phone to shut down and your phone is inoperable. so now the downside to that is if that kill switch is accidentally flipped, that you have a phone that no longer works. one of the reasons that the cellular telephone industry, the ctia doesn't want to get behind a kill switch is what they're afraid of is hackers could gain access to these things and send that signal to your phone for no reason and then you have what's known as a brick, your phone is, doesn't do anything, it doesn't even turn on. >> that is a new term that i think everyone should learn, a brick, and we have a definition to put up. tell us what a brick is. >> a brick is when your really expensive smartphone becomes a really expensive brick because it doesn't work. you have a $500 paperweight, and there you go. you can throw it at the wall in frustration, you can let it sit on your desk. it's not doing anything.

>> i just thought people had to know. doesn't the new version of the i-upon have something like a kill switch installed? >> it does. with the icloud services that apple offers, you can go online and you can see where your phone is, you can send instructions to your phone, you can send messages to say hey, if you found this phone please call this number. you can lock your phone and erase all of your personal data on your cell phone but the one this ing th one thing you can't do is tell us don't ever turn on again. the problem here is if somebody steals this phone, i can erase all my data, i can make it not work unless you punch in my code but if you stole my phone there's a pretty good chance you're going to be able to take that to a computer, plug it in and wipe out the data, including the data that says don't open it until you put a pass word in and turn around it and cell it. >> i'm sure someone is enjoying my iphone to this day although i

don't know who that person is. brett larson thank you for joining me. a night in a lop done theater turns terrifying when the roof collapses during the performance. max foster is in london this morning. >> reporter: carol, imagine i've been speaking to people that were in there, they either felt rubble fall on top of them in the middle of this performance or they saw a cloud of smoke and were rushed out. details after this. [ female announcer ] thanks for financing my first car.

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good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you for joining me. sea world once again defending itself from criticism surrounding the cnn documentary "plaquefish." the theme park has taken out a full page newspaper ads nationwide to defend its record with animals. part of the open letter says "due to the groundbreaking success of our research in marine ma'am million reproduction we haven't collected a killer whale from the wild in 35 years and in the last three years we have

invested $70 million in our killer whale habitats and millions of dollars annually in support of these facilities." since the "blackfish" was released in october, the pairnaked ladies, willie nelson, reo speedwagon canceled seaworld. some elementary students signed a petition to cancel their trip to seaworld. martin savidge joins us with more of seaworld's woes. >> the time of this ad, one of the things we talked with seaworld they say "blackfish" has not had any impact on the revenues and on the number of people attending. but then you have to wonder why would they go to such an expense and take this out. part of it is they're starting to get an impact on the key part of their audience what we found in our story. ♪ >> reporter: a parade of perf m perform performers, heart, barenaked

ladies and think shah yearwood because they don't agree. >> it wasn't that hard for me to cancel. >> reporter: as far as impact this voice may be much more powerful. >> i felt sad how they treat them. >> reporter: after seeing the film "blackfish" 10-year-old kyra cutler told her dad she never wanted to go to seaworld again, which was a problem, since her fifth grade field trip in a few weeks was to seaworld. >> she goes i'm not going. i don't want our moneying if to seaworld and that was pretty loud. >> reporter: as this picture posted on the web shows the marine science elementary school annual trip to seaworld is a longstanding tradition. dad and daughter backed by other parents lobbied to go somewhere else. announcing the decision the school's principal credited their protest for the change. "i am pleased to model for our students the importance of speaking up to express your views and voice."

seaworld downplays the decision saying "this is the only instance of a karp cancellation that we have experienced." it may not be the last. >> dear seaworld. >> reporter: dunts at point loma high school put together this video that starts off by thanking seaworld for the memories. >> but after watching the documentary "blackfish" on cnn -- >> all of those memories have totally been cheapened. >> reporter: next how seaworld cares for its animals and then the real punch. >> there will be no more admission tickets. >> mo mono more rides. >> no more teddy bears. >> reporter: what's the impact of something like that? >> it's damaging, a cross section of the population, if you notice, very clean-cut, well-spoken children, i mean talking a very moderate language, talking about how much they've enjoyed seaworld but now they just can't continue supporting seaworld until they change their policies. >> reporter: pr crisis expert david johnson says seaworld can

get by without music performers but it has a real problem when kids feel this way about nod going to seaworld. >> like i did something that was actually something that was really amazing. >> reporter: very powerful stuff. we should point out, carol, we have asked repeatedly over and over regularly of seaworld to sit down and do an interview to talk about the very things they mentioned in this full page ad. we asked again this morning, and again the answer to us was no. >> so interesting. you know, the whales depicted in the documentary, are any of them still at a seaworld? >> they are. of course the one that is focused on is tillicum at seaworld in orlando. they no longer capture killer whales, that's true. they have a successful breeding program but tillikum was captured from the wild. >> people would find that disturbing because in the

documentary it shows how the poor whale was treated, right? >> it does. >> people think seaworld should do something. >> they do. we'll continue to follow. >> martin sav iidge thanks so much. the roof of the famous apollo theater in london has now been declared secure following a terrifying collapse that injured 79 people, seven of them seriously. the ceiling falling apart about 40 minutes into the play. one man who was inside the theater told cnn's max foster what happened next. >> in my view, the stage was immediately obscured by the dust and debris, other people said it was like an avalanche, and that's probably a better description. >> reporter: did people start heading out at that point? >> immediately. nobody needed to say get out. there was no alarm. everybody knew that something was happening and the fear was then more might come down, and so everybody immediately dashed for an exit, people were

screaming. i was fortunately close to an exit, on the pavement probably within three seconds i would say. >> max foster is in london this morning with more. good morning, max. >> reporter: good morning, carol. imagine an avalanche and that's what so many people described. at one point people were looking down at the lower levels and they saw people looking up at the ceiling and there was some movement and then moments afterwards just this cloud of smoke, and of course, some people were directly under all of this plaster, falling from this very ornate ceiling, and some of them are still in hospital. not very serious injuries, but that's part of the story here, because inside, you see these large planks scattered around. you see some of the seats completely covered in rubble, and to think that people have gone out without any major injuries, it's just extraordinary, and some of the images of people coming out last night were dramatic, you know, blood pouring down their faces. we were expecting to hear about

some serious injuries, there weren't any, they were extremely lucky indeed. >> max foster reporting live in london this morning, thank you. still to come in "the newsroom," the "duck "dynasty"" gang is standing behind its patriarch on suspension from reality tv and they have their own message for a&e. nischelle turner has that story. >> yes they do, carol. the rest of the robertson family is speaking out and presenting a united front so the question now is what does this mean for the future of the franchise? i'll tell you, when we come back. ç=

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just a few months after a nasa restaurant nearly drowned inside his space suit during a space walk two astronauts will start the first of three emergency space walks tomorrow at the international space station. they need to fix a broken cooling pump which would cause the space station to overheat. there are two more space walks scheduled for monday and christmas day. in july as i said about a gallon of cooling water leaked from an astronaut's space suit into his helmet and yes he nearly drowned. joining me is nasa restaurant michael masamino. good morning. >> hi, carol, good morning. >> as a fellow italian that name should have flown through my lips but i'm sorry about that. >> that's okay, that's why my friends called me mass. >> i like that. you've been on four space walks. tell us how dangerous it is to

go on a space walk. >> it's actually pretty dangerous business. we're very careful, we check out our space suits diligently, handle them carefully. there's lots of people involved on the ground to handle them, once you get to space, the crew looks out for each other, with he work with the control center and make sure everything's good. once you get out there you have to be careful because it could be a dangerous situation, but because we're so careful and because our equipment is so good and we practice and train so much and have such a good team, we usually don't have any problems. >> you know what's on everyone's mind is the movie "gravity," that makes this much more scary as people begin to watch it tomorrow morning and also on tuesday and christmas day. so space jurng was a factor in that movie and that is a real concern for real astronauts, correct? >> it certainly is. there is stuff up there, micrometeori micrometeorites, pieces of human-made material that is

floating up there and you have to be careful for it. we do our best to avoid it. we have procedures in case we take a strike during a space walk, we practiced those procedures on the ground and we hopefully are ready for something like that, if it happens in space, but you really are hoping that that doesn't happen to you, and you can concentrate on your job and have a good day out there, because that was a bad day in that movie. >> that was a really bad day in that movie. that movie was scary. talk wiabout the astronaut that almost drowned in his helmet. the snorkel and towels to avoid that, explain that to me. >> what happened to luka was not a very good situation having the cooling inside of his suit spill water into his helmet area but nasa does a really good job of investigating and finding out where the problem is, they're still trying to find the root cause but they know the problem or pretty sure the problem had something to do with the fan

pump separator, a small electric device that works in our life support backpack so they replaced that on that suit that luka wore, the same suit that mike hopkins is going to wear tomorrow and the suit has been, that part has been replaced, the suit has been checked out and working fine. we don't expect any problems but just in case. >> that snorkel thing, explain that to me. >> just in case, you mentioned the snorkel. water absorbing pad is going to be in the back of the helmet to soak up any water that might spill out and the snorkel is not like a snorkel you imagine if you're going snorkeling in the ocean or a swimming pool. it's a hose, more like a piece of tubing that is a piece from a larger piece of tubing that we use in our space suits so it's an approved piece of material, that tube is placed unside of the suit so if the astronaut needs to get air just in case, they can lean over inside of the helmet and get to this piece of tubing which they're calling a

snorkel. so we have a fix in place, so the suit should be fine but just in case, we also have another qu device inside of there to help us if we need it. >> you're brave people, michael massamino thank you for being with us this morning. >> carol, this was my pleasure. nice talking to you. we'll have complete coverage on "new day saturday" starting at 6:00 a.m. eastern. new york city moves to expand its smoking ban to include ecigarettes, even though the makers of the tobacco free ecigarettes say the vapors they give off are absolutely harmless. people don't have to think about where their electricity comes from. they flip the switch-- and the light comes on. it's our job to make sure that it does. using natural gas this power plant can produce enough energy for about 600,000 homes. generating electricity that's cleaner and reliable, with fewer emissions--

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and they're threatening to quit the show if phil isn't filming with them. nischelle turner is following the story. >> reporter: the robertson family is presenting a united releasing a statement in support of phil the man they call the head of their family. they say, in part, quote, we've had a successful relationship but we cannot manual it going forward without our pay tro arc at the helm. talk about rocking the boat. just a day after a & e suspended the backwoods louisiana star phil robertson if his hit reality show "duck dynasty equity for making anti-gay comments, a fire storm erupted. now as his critics and supporters are lining up, robertson's family hazarded the controversy for the first time.

saying, while some of phil's unfiltered comments were coarse, his beliefs are founded in the teaching of the bible. but now, surfacing a video from 2010 showing robertson in a pennsylvania pulpit preaching morality. >> women with women, men with men. they commit indecent acts from one another. and they receive in themselves the -- they're full of murder, envy, strive, hatred. they are insurance lat, arrogant, god haters. >> he has the right to say what he likes to say. but i think a & e made a good decision when they decided that those views do not represent their brand as a network and they pulled him. >> reporter: but now coming out of the woodwork are robertson

supporters. republicans like texas senator ted cruz and sarah palin taking a stand behind the boys from the bayou as well. palin saying on her facebook page, free speech is an endangered species. those who are taking on him for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us. >> it is's stunning to me after all of those antics that miley sigh res is still on ff and phil is the one getting kicked off. >> reporter: critics say it's an old fight likely to lose in a new world. now, a & e tells cnn they will have no further comment on the situation. the network did air a previously scheduled three-hour "duck dynasty kwert marathon last night with another one scheduled for the weekend. and the new season is scheduled to kick off january 15th.

phil is expected to appear in the new season's initial episodes that have already been watched. >> still to come in the "newsroom", kobe bryant down and out. for how long? his injury didn't look serious at first. but andy? >> you're right. he's going to miss quite a while. while talk about in next in your "bleacher report." 're going to go find it. it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks. what?

just when it looked like he was getting back to his old self-, kobe bryant was delivered another blow. he's going to miss and only has a fractured knee. >> this is devastating news for kobe. it looked like he was getting back to his old self-. he was playing well. he's going to miss six weeks now with fracture in ms. left knee. it happened on this play right here. kobe and tony allen were going at it. he's going to go to the ground and grab his knee. nobody thought much of it because he actually blade the rest of the game. and they hended up having an mri and it revealed the fracture. kobe is just going to have to wait and let it heal. he's 35 years old now. so who knows.

major league pitchers look like they will have the option to wear protective head gear next season. protective gear is being developed and it will be optional and not mandatory. he's one of a number of pitchers that suffered head injuries as a result of being hit in the head with a line drive. mike tyson making up with holyfield. and this week he sat down with rachel nichols to talk about a number of topics. >> when you look back on it now, what do you think? >> i'm sorry i bit his ear. he's a good guy. a really good guy. >> i will never forget watching that fight. >> those are some of the first fights i ever watched. >> me too. >> you can watch that whole interview tonight at 10:30 eastern here on cnn.

i think they talk about his pet tiger. >> he still has that? i thought that was a myth of that movie "hangover". next hour of "newsroom" starts now. good morning. i'm carol costello. thanks so much for joining mow. hours from now, the holiday travel season kicks into high greer. and for millions those plans may ground to a halt. a storms across the country painting scenes stek tackler and scarying. that would be good-bye transition former. a wicked combination of eye winds and freezing snow knocked out power in much of salt lake city. other travelers are being warned across the eastern half of the country.

indra petersen is here to tell us more. >> once again, definitely looks like we're still going to be talking about the travel woes. as we go into the holidays, this is the cliff notes, heavy rain and flooding. from the ohio valley all the way down to the mississippi valley. then icing conditions. heavy snow boo the great lakes and even more icing into the northeast. let's take you day by day and how it is we're expected to get there. we're going to look at the system today. this is a light system. producing light showers this morning. kind of making its way into the northeast. should be dissipating. this is not the big system. the system we're going to be concerned with here is the one going down into the southeast tomorrow. look at all of this moisture funneling into the southeast. that's going to produce the heavy rain and flooding concerns i showed you. look at the backside. still threats. they're intersecting colder air and on the back side is where you're getting the threat of heavy snow off the lakes.

same system now continuing east. look at the icing concerns. upstate new york looking for over a half inch. that means power lines goes down. and that would be sunday. not the only side of this story. we have all the warm air. record breaking heat and a lot of moisture in the southeast. what does that mean? it means severe weather threat. tonight, places like little rock back through waco. but notice, tomorrow this is key. pay attention. if you're anywhere from memphis back through louisiana, you have a moderate risk for severe thunderstorms, that includes tornadoes. this is key. notice in december, you still can have tornadoes. that's not the only story. a lot of metropolitan areas that are seeing this system here are just going to be looking for warm temperatures, record breaking potentially and light showers. really the key is where are you and what is expected in your area. not even close to the same for

anyone. >> thanks to you. fears this morning of a tuberculosis outbreak in california. 1800 high school students and staff will be tested today for tb. this after 45 students in palm desert tested positive for possible exposure. only one student has been confirmed with an active case. but the school says it's requiring the test out of an abundance of caution. and the risk of transmission appears to be moderately low. >> i also am a parent. i have a senior girl and freshman boy. and as a parent, i too am concerned. >> tuberculosis can be unpredictable and deadly disease. and even though it's not nearly as serious as it used to be, it's still very serious and have significant health consequences. >> some parents are upset that it wasn't handled sooner by the district. >> we'll be worried until we

find out everyone is okay. it's going to be a tough one to get through this break. >> today is the last day of school before winter break. students cannot come back to class until they're medically cleared. we've got a strong new reading on the gdp. it grew at a rate of 4.1%, that's a fastest rate of growth in two years and much higher than the economists have expected. let's talk about target. the nation's second largest retailer is in full damage control mode after one of the largest breaches in retail history. after as many as 40 million credit and debit accounts may have been compromised. the message reads in part, we began investigating the incident as soon as we learned of it. we've determined that the information involved in this

included customer name, creditor debit card number, and the code on the back of your card. some target customers are already spotting problems. >> $2,319.51 that they tried to get out of my account. i toured the united states and a little bit of the country. >> you think you have money in your account and then you have nothing. you have beyond nothing. all because i went shopping at target. >> under federal law, consumers who use credit cards have more protection than the debit cards. time is running out to get the christmas gifts. if you played the procrastination card, you may be able to find a if you good deals tomorrow. they really named tomorrow super saturday? >> reporter: i know. i keep calling it the next date on the retail hype calendar.

and you have six fewer shopping days this year between thanksgiving and christmas. black friday was pretty lukewarm. so there could be a lot of deals out there. here's what you can buy. toys and video games. here hearing there's going to be pretty good sales for these kinds of things. the recent release on x box 1 and play station 4. this is weird but true. there are good deals this weekend on space heaters, dehumidifiers and air purifiers. i don't know why exactly. but this is the time of the year when those -- they start clearing those out. i guess people buy them when it first turns cold and anything that's left starts to go on deep discounts. >> i know my mom would want one of those things. >> they're so romantic. >> thank you, christine, i appreciate it. a bit of developing news this morning, president obama

has scheduled a 2:00 p.m. eastern press conference. this is interesting because many political annual lites were wondering if the president would talk to reporters before he leaves for vacation. later on he's leaving for hawaii for a couple of weeks with his family for christmas break. brianna keilar is follow this story. and i guess you could expect a lot of questions to come from reporters about obamacare and other things. the nsa and edward snowden. of course the big rub is will the president take questions from the reporters? >> reporter: good morning. i think we're expecting that. i don't have that officially at this point. but we do know that he will be addressing the press and certainly we do have a lot of questions for him. it's very customary for a president to do a end of year press conference. this one i think is going to be significant. for president obama it has been

a tough year. and obviously the hope for the white house is to close this chapter out and to start 2014 afresh. but i think you're right, we're going to expect that he'll get a lot of questions about nsa practices. we've heard about the recommendations that have come out from a ve ryu board. we know as he leaves tonight with the first family, that he will be on his trip as he gets a little r & r in, he will be thinking about what changes he wants to make. he heard a lot of concerns from executives of big tech companies who were worried about their bottom line. and obviously because their customers are worried about their privacy. i think that's going to be a big thing that president obama considers on his vacation. and i think reporters will be wanting toe know what kind of changes he's going to make. >> the one bit of brightness, the gdp is up more than expected. my best guess, we'll start with

that. >> reporter: and you know the other thing that i think that plays into is that the economy is a big priority for president obama. he has said for 2014 he want to do so tackle, immigration, that's something he would need the assistance of congress with. but you look at two of his other agenda items, climate change and the economy. and those are areas where we would expect that he would circumvent congress and try to harness some of the modest recovery and promote that further. i think you'll see a lot of things running the gamut in the questions. and seeing reporters pressing president obama to reflect on this past year. it began obviously with his inauguration. but here just in the last few months, it's been especially bruising. congress rebuffing his request to use force in syria. the government shutdown.

the debt ceiling battle. and of course the rocky rollout of healthcare.gov. the question that still remains for that, as the administration has come on track here, more on track. it's obviously still very much a work in progress. st president going to be making changes? we've seen staff shakeups. are there going to be more? is there going to be a punitive i guess releasing of somebody for the fact that it was such a terrible rollout and continues to be a work in progress. >> we'll talk more about obamacare after the break. again, the president is expected to hold a news conference at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. of course, cnn will carry that for you. you know, ronny... folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. and how happy are they jimmy?

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as i told you before, the president will hold a press briefing in the press briefing room this afternoon, 2:00 p.m. eastern. cnn will carry that live. reporters will be free to ask questions of the president and that will be interesting to hear what they ask and what he has to say. let's bring in john king. the president will probably talk about new tweaks to obamacare and a bit of bright news about the. >> reporter: i think the president will with a nt to talk about that. that's something the president and his party, the democrats have been eagerly praying for. we're going into the election year. it will be fascinating to hear from the president today, really interesting to see how long he hangs in there. there are a lot of questions to be asked whether about obamacare

or philosophical or staff changes at the white house, whether it's about the 2014 agenda or about the nsa. i could go on and on. it will be interesting to see how much energy he has for the back and forth. this has become somewhat of an annual tradition. it's very important for this president. if you look back at 2013, he was essentially 0 for 2013. he wanted a new jobs program and do other things about the economy. none of them. and then he added gun control after newtown. none of that was accomplished. but he got nothing done in 2013. so now he has to think, do i want to be different in 2014? do i want to reach out and have a compromise on immigration and on the job programs? or because it's an election year, do i want to be confrontational and gin up the

democratic position. >> there was a new tweak that came, what, yesterday and it leaves open a lot of questions. how many more tweaks to come? >> reporter: the republican critics of this program say this is what happens when you build something so big and so complicated in their view it doesn't work. what the administration is sailing it's so important and yes it's big and complicated, that when you hit a hiccup or speed bump or disaster like the rollout, you fix it and move on and make it better. specifically what happened yesterday was this, remember, the president has had to admit that his promise, that if you like you're plan or doctor, you can keep that plan or doctor has turned out not to be true for a large number. a small number of the total population, but still, millions of americans. about 500,000 still have been told their plan is being canceled and still haven't been able to sign up for a new plan yet. a lot of democrats are saying

that's great, you finally give these people access to coverage and it won't cost them all that much money. but the critics say this is another moving of the goal post and dumbing down of the standards that the president set when they passed this. >> thanks for your insight. still to come in the "newsroom", former heavy weight camp to broadway star and awe tur. mike tyson tells his story next. life with crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis is a daily game of "what if's".

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to the south. the fax sent thursday warned that north korea would, quote, strike mers leslie without notice. they're upset over demonstrations in south korea. if provoked, it said, it will retaliate. there are no reports of significant military movements in north korea. just days -- brian boreton know has come out as gay. he joins two other openly athletes. billie jean king, who told cnn's christiane amanpour about the message that she would like to send. >> i'm not big on boycotting. usually it has to be a last resort. i think it's more important to go and be there and be involved and be committed to trying to

help change and help let people also know if you're gay that you're not alone. if you're part of 9 lgbt community, you are not alone. we are there representing all of us that we're going -- that's very important right now. because i know sometimes it must be really hard on them. and i think with the outpouring of love and kindness and decency that people have shown throughout the world is going to help the community. and we don't like the fact that they're discriminated against. we don't want anybody to be discriminated against. it's human rights. that's what this is about. >> president obama is not attending the games. russia's president vladimir putin dismissed the criticism against the anti-gooi laws as western values. surprising new chapters in the life the heavyweight champ mike tyson. he's putting a new twist on the

infamous moment when he bit off a piece of evander holy field's ear. rashal went one on one with tyson for an interview wearing tonight. they kissed and made up? >> reporter: yeah. i was actually at that tyson holyfield fight. and i remember so clearly watching that happen. and just smacking the guy next to me and saying, oh my my god, he's eating him. that's all i could think of in that moment. it was a crazy night. but when i sat down with tyson this week, he told me how troubled he was actually feeling then. and not just then, but in the years before. when everyone assumed he was on top of the world and knocking guys out in 30, 60 seconds, fans were hailing him as a hero. but he revealed to me there was a lot of unhappy notice under

the surface. >> i don't like that time of my life. all the money and success, i didn't get anything done. my kids never saw me. i was a horrible father. i'm accomplishing so much now as a human being that i could have ever done back then. >> were you surprised you never killed anyone in the ring? >> i'm surprised no one killed me either. i'm glad things turned out the way they did. >> reporter: we also spoke with his drug and alcohol use. he became a cocaine addict at one point. he went to rehab. he now says he's sober. he's got the show. he's starting the boxing mow motion business. he told me he's going to be a promoter much better than the guys that promoted him. when i asked tyson the advice that he was going to give to the younger boxers, he says that he's telling them that the only entourage that you need is your

lawyer. >> i'm just curious about the ear incident. did he said he did it, was it the heat of the moment? >> reporter: yeah. he says that hollyfield was butting his head. if you look back at the tape, that is aly gat matt complaint and the official in the ring wasn't doing much about it. as he notes now, the recourse is not to eat your opponent. you should maybe try to get the official on your side or doing something else, file a complaint after the match. you shouldn't start biting people. he might be right about being unfairly treated in the ring. but as we tell our kids, we don't hit harder if someone hits you first. it's about person learning impulse control. >> but then again, someone is punching me in the face repeatedly, i don't know. >> reporter: are you saying that i should be careful if you and i get into an argument?

the chompers might come out? >> cover your apendages. and you can watch the rest of the mike tyson interview on "unguarded" with rachel nichols. that's tonight, 10:30 eastern on cnn. still to come, where there's smoke there's ire. e-cigarettes are added to the new york city smoking ban. we'll talk to a council member who helped lead the fight. stick with power. stick with technology. get the new flexcare platinum from philips sonicare and save now. philips sonicare. so, if you're sleeping in your contact lenses, what you wear to bed is your business. ask about the air optix® contacts so breathable they're approved for up to 30 nights of continuous wear. serious eye problems may occur. ask your doctor and visit airoptix.com for safety information and a free one-month trial. it fills you with energy... and it gives you what you are looking for

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this morning, there are fears of a tuberculosis outbreak in california. 1800 high school students and staff will be tested today for tb. 45 students at this high school in palm desert tested positive for possible ex-sploesh after making contact with one student who has been confirmed to have an active case of tuberculosis. these are live pictures of the high school. the testing is out of an abundance of caution, court to high school official. joining me now to talk about this is dr. sanjay gupta.

how scared should the parents be? >> the good news that the chance of their children getting tuberculosis is pretty low. if you find out there's a child in your child's class who has active tuberculosis, i would be a little freaked out too. they've gone ahead and done testing initially. and some of the earlier results came back higher than they expected them to. the screening test was a little bit more concerning which is prompting those images that you were just showing. >> so 45 students test positive. what kind of symptoms who they have? >> they may have no symptoms at all. if you've had an exposure at some point, it does not mean you had an infection. it means that your body saw the bacteria at some point. and as a result your inflammatory system is a little bit on high alert for it. when you do the skin test, it comes back positive. doesn't mean your infected or going to get sick. people who get if from somebody

else typically are family members. prolonged ex-sploesh, like international flights. but it's very unlikely for these kids in this setting to probably be infected. >> what if -- i'm trying to determine how dangerous this is if indeed you do get the full-blown disease. >> tuberculosis in and ofist is a bacterial infection that primarily affects the lungs. but it can go to the brain, kidneys, spine. we know how to treat this. but if you don't treat it, it can be deadly what we're talking about here. and it has been deadly in many places around the world. most of the people who get it still in this country are bringing it back to this country. you're 11 times more likely if you have tuberculosis to have been born in a foreign country. >> so the high school is hamming this in a proper way. it's go going to have all $100 strunts tested. >> and teachers an faculty.

my prediction is you're not going to get any of these people having been infected. that's the good news. but from a psychological standpoint, it's potentially a deadly disease and you want to catch it very early. >> in other news this morning, the cigarettes are fake but the health concerns are real. so new york city is moving to add e-cigarettes to its list of banned vices. the city council voted to ban them from public places just like tobacco cigarettes. but critics say, not so fast. there is not enough scientific evidence to show that the vapor from these e-cigarettes is actually harmful. good morning, sir. >> yes. good morning. >> i know your mother and father in law both died from lung cancer and this is a big reason why you pushed so hard to ban

e-cigaret e-cigarettes. >> correct. we also did a bill last the mo month that races the sale of tobacco to 21 in new york city. >> there is no scientific evidence that the secondhand smoke, i'll call it smoke, but it's really vapor, harms people. >> that's not really accurate. there was just a report released this week by the world health organization that has a lot of concerns about the vapor coming out of these products. it makes a recommendation that all jurisdictions around the world make sure these are treated just like tobacco. reading off a label of a pack of e-cigarettes for me to use as a prop, it says these are toxic by inhalation. that's what they say about their product. they say it's toxic. >> inhalation.

but that's the person using the e cigarette. i'm talking about second-hand smoke. if someone is smoking in an office or a park, it's not likely that you'll be harmed by your secondhand smoke. >> i don't think the assertion that you're making is accurate. that's certainly not backed up by the world health organization or the many people who came and testified at our hearing. this is a problem. they call themselves toxic. and they indicate that these products are not for cessation. they went to the u.s. fda and sued them because there were claims this was a tobacco cessation device. they sued them and wanted to be regulated as tobacco. and we do not know fully what's in the vapor that comes out. we know what they say about themselves. what their lawyers tell them to write on their packages which says this product is toxic. once you inhale and exhale it, there are still nicotine.

and people will be exposed to nicotine which is highly addictive. >> in the interest of being accurate about the health hazards or not, i want to bring in dr. sanjay gupta. >> i get to talk to sanjay gupta? >> you do. >>s in fun. >> councilman, thanks again. one of the things that's come up is the comparison between these and regular cigarettes. the regular cigarettes have so many compounds and when you burn them even more compounds. with these e-cigs you limit it down to just a couple of vapors. do we know this or is this just speculation? >> many other studies that have come before my committee have indicated that depending on what brand you use and how they

vaporize the nicotine. this is not a standardized industry. this is the wild west. it's not regulated. when the fda tells me that they're safe, then i will believe they're safe. when i know that their lawyers are put ogen that i package saying that this product is toxic and addictive, that's pretty much good enough for me. >> it seems like system people might thing that you're sort of jumping the gun. because there is no hard core evidence out there that these are dangerous to other people. and it's more like another nanny state law that new york city has passed. >> we think this is a prudent public health move. and we are no way near the first. we've got about between 18 and 20 million americans that live in jurisdictions that have these regulated the same way as tobacco. new jersey, utah, north dakota. many other jurisdictions have

made this common sense public health move. but big tobacco who are in the toxic addiction business want everyone to think otherwise. they sued the fda, they said that they wanted to be regulated as tobacco. they did not want to be some kind of device for tobacco cessation. however, if peechl want to use these products, they're not banned. they can't be used in the same place where you can't smoke a cigarette. >> understand. >> we're creating an exact parallel between how we treat these and regular tobacco cigarettes. and many other countries have banned these outright. the country of canada and argentina. the state of israel. and many other countries. you can check with their health minimum triz and health reasons they have behind the moves that they made. >> councilman, i've got to end

it there. thank you for joining us. i want you to promote your show, sanjay. >> joel ohl steen is going to be on the show. we're going to talk about a intersection between faith and science. and richard blaze. there are ways to start cooking healthier. >> you weren't for the bacon bowl we just advertised? >> that got you pretty excited. >> i want my own bacon bowl. thank you. i appreciate it. we'll be right back. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair has the fastest retinol formula. to visibly reduce fine lines and wrinkles in just one week. neutrogena®. avo: thesales event "sis back. drive to visibly reduce fine lines and wrinkles in just one week. which means it's never been easier to get a new passat, awarded j.d. power's most appealing midsize car, two years in a row. and right now you can drive one home for practically just your signature.

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the late paul walker is being honored in a touching tribute as part of a music video

for one of his final movies called "the hours." ♪ sounds like a beautiful song. nischelle turner is in new york with more on the story. >> reporter: this is a video. and although this was in production before paul walker's death, she says the song and video are a farewell to him. she says he was an incredible man and a dear friend. the profits from the single and video are going to benefit his first responder organization reach out worldwide. he was at an event for that charity when he was killed in the car crash. and by the way, he's getting a

lot of critical acclaim for his movie that opens december 14th. it is a story of a father and the links that he will go to protect his newborn child who is having complications in the aftermath of hurricane katrina. >> still to come in the "newsroom", as the "duck dynasty" family takes a public stand and big named politicians like ted cruz and bobby jindal are joining in. we'll talk about why, next. you know, ronny... folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. and how happy are they jimmy? i'd say happier than a bodybuilder directing traffic. he does look happy. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

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rallying to his defense. ted cruz said, quote, if you believe in free speech or ridgeous liberty, you should be deeply dismayed over the treatment of phil robertson. >> let's talk about this with our panel. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> happy holidays. >> i'll say merry christmas and be politically incorrect this morning. first off, let me remind you what robertson said to gq magazine, he said, start with homosexual behavior and morph out from there. bees tealty, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men. and then don't be disreceived, neither the adulters, the idol teres, the male prostitutes,

they won't inherit the kingdom of god. don't deceive yourself, it's not right. maria, you heard what ted cruz said. is this ridgeous liberty? >> well, first of all, if we're going to quote corinthianss, let's remember that that paraphrase essentially condemns 99.99% of all politicians in this country and probably most people. is it religious liberty? of course. know one is saying that he could not say what he he said. but it's also freedom of speech. those offended by it can speak up and say so. what is so baffling to me is we're actually surprised by what he said. i think at the end of the day this is all a & e's fault. for putting someone like phil robertson uppen on a pedestal. he's self-described bible thumbing christian ultra right

wing conservative. and having him sit down with gq magazine and being appalled by what he believes? >> there's wrong with being a bible thumping conservative, maria. >> i'm not saying that it is. i'm saying we should not be surprised by what he said. a lot of people do believe be that. is it offensive to many people? absolutely. but we should not be surprised by what he said and a & e shusd understand that. and they have the freedom by the way to protect their brand in the way that they're doing in suspending him. >> let's argue about the matter at hand. some conservatives are rallying around him. right will? >> right. >> and sometimes politicians have a tendency to rally around too quickly. some might argue they did. because now this tape of what robertson said in 20 so 10 at a church has surfaced. icht you to listen to that before you comment.

>> women with women, men with men, they committed indecent acts with one another. and they received in themselves the due penalty for their per versions. they're full of murder, envy, strive, hatred. they are insolent, arrogant god haters. >> he went on to say that gay people invent ways of doing evil. so is that -- what is that, will? how would you characterize that what he said? is that free speech and rngous liberty or it hate speech? >> no. it is a commonly held belief. this should not comes a surprise. nothing here is a surprise. a & e was happy to exploit the robertson's religion when it meant good things for that you

are ratings. and now when there's a group who stand up in their defense and insist that those that disagree with them sit down and shut up, a & e is running scared. phil robertson espoused a religion view that is commonly held. i'm from the south. i support gay marijuana. but those who hold commonly christian doctrine that homosexuality is a sin. and he said two things. ask any gay man or straight men what their preferences are and they'll probably tell you something similar. >> i think gay people aren't upset at what he said. i think they are upset that he said they're the same as bees tealty. >> i don't think he said that. i don't think he said it's the same. he said they're both sins. he said they're both sins.

and i don't know what that means, invent ways of doing evil. that's religion speak in a sermon. in the end, here is the deal. you asked yourself, how could i be pro gay marijuana and find myself defending phil robertson. when i hear those that disagree with me, i don't insist that they shut up and lose their television shows. i know if thigh ideas are better than them, we can vet it out in public and i will win. we have a band tendency if we hear people that disagree with us, our first response is you must go away. >> the core question is, should some conservatives who were thinking of running for president in 2016 rally around this issue? will this be an issue come 2016? >> so to that question, carol, here is the big, i think, issue for those gop politicians who are now surrounding themselves

and embracing what phil robertson or what he's saying and what is being done to him allegedly. and that is to will's point, if these ideas are going to be fought out on the political stage, which they will be in 2016, what they're doing right now, what these gop politicians are doing, is again, underscoring that they are a party that is incentive to the lbgt community and african-american community. that is not tolerant of the lbgt and african-american community. and does not represent mainstream views. they can't win with those kinds of thoughts. we saw it in 2012. in 2016 if these issues are going to be fought out on the presidential stage, it's not a good thing. >> no. >> i've got to end it here. i'm so sorry. come back and discuss this more. >> thank you, carol. >> all right. ♪ this holiday season, our priority is you ♪

♪ through 12 ice storms brewing ♪ ♪ 10 straight days raining ♪ 9 hailstorms pounding ♪ 5 mysteriously heavy holiday fruitcakes ♪ ♪ 4 actual tree houses ♪ 3 blackouts ♪ 2 weird to mention ♪ and a roaming horde of carolers ♪ ♪ with my exact same route [ female announcer ] no one delivers the holidays like the u.s. postal service. priority mail flat rate is more reliable than ever. and with improved tracking up to 11 scans you can even watch us get it there. and look for our limited edition holiday stamps. and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it.

it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks. what? stick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology. get the new flexcare platinum from philips sonicare and save now. philips sonicare.

before you ring in the new year, you must run through all the memorable moments from the faded year. it's the unescapable list time. as jeanne moos shows us it's a monkey in a snow suit make the a-list. >> reporter: 'tis the reason to be listing from the 2013 most

brek taking photos of 2013 to the nine media hoaxes you fell for. like the twerking girl pretending to set herself on fire. we should be screaming from all of these lists. still, how can you resist the 21 most krij worthy tv news moments. >> what is wrong with you? >> reporter: usually he with try to escape ads. >> you can ship your pants right here. you hear that? i can ship my pants for free. >> reporter: any excuse for a list will do. 28 most ridiculous celebrity face mashes combine sarah palin and hone boo boo. why 32? what's with the random numbers? remember the days when a list was something on paper that you took to the grocery store snow now instead of bread and milk,

there are lists listing the best lists. this man is singing his list of top viral videos. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: but the video that gets his goat -- ♪ >> reporter: with lists ranging from the top ten miley moments to the top fen harlem shakes, it's hard to pick a clip of the year. but jimmy kimmel tried. >> monkey in a snow suit. >> reporter: alast, monkey in a snow suit didn't win. scared boss did. as he came on the show to accept the award -- >> awww. >> reporter: it's a been a crazy

year. wait until you see how nuts it was for the am russ cows that made it to number one on the crash video. holy cow, not only were they not hurt, the male was ready for morrow manslaughter. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> thank you for joining me today. i'm carol costello. "legal view" with ashleigh banfield starts now. >> seaworld says it is time to set the record straight. insisting that it is in the business of saving and not capturing and mistreating whales and other sea creatures. but can seaworld turn back the tied of criticism? also this